Dragon 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen T34-747(r)

KIT #: 6449
PRICE: $68.00 SRP
DECALS: One option
REVIEWER: Scott Van Aken
NOTES: Smart Kit

HISTORY

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank which had a profound and permanent effect on the fields of tank tactics and design. First deployed in 1940, it has often been described as the most effective, efficient, and influential design of World War II. At its introduction, the T-34 possessed the best balance of firepower, mobility, protection, and ruggedness of any tank (though its initial battlefield effectiveness suffered due to a variety of factors). Its 76.2 mm (3 in) high-velocity gun was the best tank gun in the world at that time; its heavy sloped armour was impenetrable by standard anti-tank weapons; and it was very agile. Though its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war, when they first encountered it in battle in 1941 German tank generals von Kleist and Guderian called it "the deadliest tank in the world." Many captured T-34s were used by the Germans during the war.
THE KIT

The Dragon T-34 was one of Dragon's earlier kits, but over the years, the kit has grown in both quality and molding. Many of the parts have been retooled in the intervening years, thanks to Dragon's use of slide molds that provide that extra bit of detail over standard kit molding. The main vehicle is the STZ produced mod 1942 tank. It is also not very parts intensive as is shown by it only having 430 parts; many of these being part of the Smart Tracks individual track link system. Since this a captured vehicle, it has a rear stowage bin taken from a Panzer III tank. Once again, I'll turn it over to the Dragon PR folks to give you the rest of  the details on this kit.

- Turret bottom w/cutting mark
- Turret hatch w/fine detail can be positioned open/closed
- Both fake and real periscopes provided as option
- Bolted connecting plate for mantlet
- Trunnions w/weld detail
- Mantlet has cutting-seam detail
- Turret interior detail - gun w/breech assembly
- Upper-hull glacis plate w/weld detail
- Engine-deck rear plate and engine-cover plate have full detail
- Finely detailed fenders
- Realistically represented road wheels - two outer road wheels w/rubber tires, and three inner all-steel road wheels
- Multi-combination running gear w/two road-wheel patterns
- Sprocket is finely reproduced
- One-piece lower hull offers easy assembly
- Slide-molded gun barrel included
- Two types of storage box provided
- Detailed suspension system
- Suspension arms realistically recreated
- Optional photo-etched parts for engine-cover grills available
- Engine-deck louvers finely represented by photo-etched parts
- 550mm variant of T-34 Magic Tracks w/refined detail

InInstructions are well done with the usual Gunze paint references and somewhat crowded construction sequences. The markings provided are for the box art vehicle and consist of insignia and the unit badge of the 5th Panzer Division.
CONCLUSIONS

In all it makes for an interesting addition to any WWII armor collection. Those who want can probably build it as a standard Soviet T-34, but the inclusion of the storage bin makes it something a little bit different from the norm.

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerkampfwagen_T-34%28r%29

My thanks to www.dragonmodelusa.com for the review kit. Get yours today at your local retailer or ask them to order it in for you.

June 2014

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